Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.8. Some of the more interesting improvements in hardware support and software updates of this release include: "ACPI-based suspend/resume works on most machines with Intel/ATI video, machines using NVIDIA graphics will not resume the graphics; OpenSSH 5.6 with many new features and bug fixes; Mandoc 1.10.5, a utility used to build all manuals in the base system and in Xenocara from mdoc and man sources; over 6,400 ports, major robustness and speed improvements in package tools; package highlights - GNOME 2.30.2, KDE 3.5.10, Xfce 4.6.2, MySQL 5.1.48, PostgreSQL 8.4.4, Postfix 2.7.1, Mozilla Firefox 3.6.8 and 3.5.11, OpenOffice.org 3.2.1, PHP 5.2.13, major components - Xenocara (based on X.Org 7.5 with X.Org Server 1.8 + patches, FreeType 2.3.12), GCC 2.95.3, 3.3.5 and 4.2.1 + patches, Perl 5.10.1, our improved and secured version of Apache 1.3, with SSL/TLS and DSO support...." See the OpenBSD 4.8 release page for more details. Download: i386/install48.iso (212MB, SHA256), amd64/install48.iso (225MB, SHA256).

Antoine Jacoutot has announced the release of OpenBSD 5.6, the latest version of the free, multi-platform UNIX-like operating system focusing on proactive security and integrated cryptography: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 5.6. This is our 36th release on CD-ROM (and 37th via FTP/HTTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 5.6 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. LibreSSL: this release forks OpenSSL into LibreSSL, a version of the TLS/crypto stack with goals of modernizing the codebase, improving security, and applying best practice development processes; no support for legacy MacOS, Netware, OS/2, VMS and Windows platforms, as well as antique compilers; removal of the IBM 4758, Broadcom ubsec, Sureware, Nuron, GOST...." Visit the OpenBSD 5.6 release page to read the complete list of changes and improvements. Download: amd64/install56.iso (227MB, SHA256, torrent), i386/install56.iso (211MB, SHA256, torrent, pkglist).

OpenBSD 5.5, the latest version of the free, multi-platform UNIX-like operating system with focus on proactive security and integrated cryptography, has been released: "This is a partial list of new features and systems included in OpenBSD 5.5: time_t is now 64 bits on all platforms; from OpenBSD 5.5 onwards, OpenBSD is year 2038-ready and will run well beyond Tue Jan 19 03:14:07 2038 UTC; the entire source tree (kernel, libraries, and userland programs) has been carefully and comprehensively audited to support 64-bit time_t... Some highlights: GNOME 3.10.2 KDE 3.5.10 and 4.11.5, Xfce 4.10, MySQL 5.1.73 and PostgreSQL 9.3.2, Postfix 2.11.0, OpenLDAP 2.3.43 and 2.4.38, Mozilla Firefox 24.3 and 26.0, LibreOffice 4.1.4.2, PHP 5.3.28 and 5.4.24, Python 2.7.6 and 3.3.2, Chromium 32.0.1700.102, GCC 4.6.4 and 4.8.2...." See the OpenBSD 5.5 release page for a long list of changes and improvements. Download (torrents): amd64/install55.iso (237MB, SHA256, torrent), i386/install55.iso (222MB, SHA256, torrent).

Nick Holland has announced the release of OpenBSD 5.4, a free, multi-platform UNIX-like operating system with focus on portability, standardisation, correctness, proactive security and integrated cryptography: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 5.4. This is our 34th release on CD-ROM (and 35th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 5.4 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: new platform for systems based on the Cavium Octeon MIPS-compatible processors, supported machines include Portwell CAM-0100, Ubiquiti Networks EdgeRouter LITE; new platform for OMAP3/4 and AM335x systems using an ARM Cortex-A8 or Cortex-A9 CPU...." Visit the OpenBSD 5.4 release page to read the full list of changes and improvements. Download (torrents): amd64/install54.iso (232MB, SHA256, torrent), i386/install54.iso (216MB, SHA256, torrent).

Stuart Henderson has announced the release of OpenBSD 5.3, a free, multi-platform operating system with a strong focus on security and meticulous code review: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 5.3. This is our 33rd release on CD-ROM (and 34th via FTP). As in our previous releases, 5.3 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: improved hardware support, including new driver oce(4) for Emulex OneConnect 10Gb Ethernet adapters, new driver rtsx(4) for the Realtek RTS5209 card reader; OpenSMTPD 5.3; OpenSSH 6.2; over 7,800 ports, major performance and stability improvements in the package build process. Some highlights: GNOME 3.6.2, KDE 3.5.10, Xenocara (based on X.Org 7.7 with X.Org Server 1.12.3 + patches...." Read the OpenBSD 5.3 release page which for a long list of improvements. Download: amd64/install53.iso (227MB, SHA256, torrent), i386/install53.iso (212MB, SHA256, torrent).

Bob Beck has announced the release of OpenBSD 5.2, a free, multi-platform BSD-based UNIX-like operating system: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 5.2. This is our 32nd release on CD-ROM. We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 5.2 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. The most significant change in this release is the replacement of the user-level uthreads by kernel-level rthreads, allowing multithreaded programs to utilize multiple CPUs/cores. Some highlights: GNOME 3.4.2, KDE 3.5.10, Xfce 4.10, MySQL 5.1.63, PostgreSQL 9.1.4, Postfix 2.9.3, Mozilla Firefox 3.5.19, 3.6.28 and 13.0.1, Mozilla Thunderbird 13.0.1, LibreOffice 3.5.5...." See the OpenBSD 5.2 release page which includes a detailed list of all changes and improvements. Download links: i386/install52.iso (226MB, SHA256, torrent), amd64/install52.iso (241MB, SHA256, torrent).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 5.1, a BSD operating system with a focus on security: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 5.1. What's new? umsm(4) supports additional mobile broadband devices; non-GigE ale(4) devices can now establish link to a GigE link partner; support for Intel 82580 has been added to em(4); support for MegaRAID 9240 has been added to mfi(4); support for Nuvoton NCT6776F has been added to lm(4)... Highlights: OpenSSH 6.0, GNOME 3.2.1, KDE 3.5.10, Xfce 4.8.3, MySQL 5.1.60, PostgreSQL 9.1.2, Postfix 2.8.8, Mozilla Firefox 3.5.19, 3.6.25 and 9.0.1, LibreOffice 3.4.5.2... The system includes the following major components from outside suppliers: Xenocara (based on X.Org 7.6 with X.Org Server 1.11.4, FreeType 2.4.8, Mesa 7.10.3; GCC 4.2.1; Perl 5.12.2...." The OpenBSD 5.1 release page has a detailed list of all changes and improvements. Quick download links to the i386 and amd64 installation images: i386/install51.iso (222MB, SHA256, torrent), amd64/install51.iso (236MB, SHA256, torrent).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 5.0, a new version of a BSD-based operating system renown for its high security thanks to meticulous code review. Some of the new features and systems in the new release include: "Improved hardware support, including: MSI interrupts for many devices, on those architectures which can support them (amd64, i386, sparc64 only so far); a new dma_alloc(9) API makes it easier for kernel code to allocate dma-safe memory; as a result, big-memory support has been enabled on all possible architectures; the rather rare bce(4) driver now copies mbufs all the time, to cope with the hardware having a 1 GB limit. Highlights: GNOME 2.32.2, KDE 3.5.10, Mozilla Firefox 3.5.19, 3.6.18 and 5.0, LibreOffice 3.4.1, PHP 5.2.17 and 5.3.6, Chromium 12.0.742.122...." A much more comprehensive list of features can be found in the detailed release notes. Quick links to download installation CD images for the i386 and amd64 architectures: i386/install50.iso (219MB, SHA256), amd64/install50.iso (233MB, SHA256).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.9, a BSD-based operating system specialising in high-security solutions through thorough code review. What's new? "OpenBSD amd64 and i386 - enabled NTFS by default (read-only) on GENERIC kernels; enabled the vmt driver by default for VMware tools support as a guest; SMP kernels can now boot on machines with up to 64 cores; maximum allocation size for i386 bumped to 2 GB; handle >16 disks when searching for kernel boot device; added support for AES-NI instructions found in recent Intel processors; further improvements in suspend and resume; processes are now switched to TSS per CPU on the amd64 platform, resulting in removal of the old limit of 4,000 processes. Improved hardware support, including: new vte driver for RDC R6040 10/100 Ethernet devices...." Visit the OpenBSD 4.9 release page to read a detailed, technical overview of the product. Download: i386/install49.iso (215MB, SHA256), amd64/install49.iso (229MB, SHA256).

Bob Beck has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.7: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.7. This is our 27th release on CD-ROM (and 28th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 4.7 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. Install and upgrade process changes: take more care to ensure all file systems are umounted when restarting an install or upgrade; if no possible root disk is found, keep checking until one appears; the default FTP directory for -stable is now the release directory instead of the snapshot directory. Some highlights: GNOME 2.28.2, KDE 3.5.10, Xfce 4.6.1, MySQL 5.1.42, PostgreSQL 8.4.2, Postfix 2.6.5...." Read the detailed release announcement for a complete list of all changes and improvements. Download: i386/install47.iso (244MB, SHA256), amd64/install47.iso (272MB, SHA256).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.6. The release arrives earlier than expected; as many of the project's paying customers have already received their CDs, the 4.6 tree of the OpenBSD FTP server has been opened to allow full access to any extra packages. From the announcement: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.6. This is our 26th release on CD-ROM (and 27th via FTP). As in our previous releases, 4.6 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: new or extended platforms - MVME141 and MVME165 boards are now supported, SGI Octane, SGI Origin 200 and SGI Fuel systems are now supported, several bugs in interrupt handling have been fixed...." Read the detailed release notes for further information. Download (torrents): i386/install46.iso (232MB, SHA256, torrent), amd64/install46.iso (254MB, SHA256).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.5: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.5. This is our 25th release on CD-ROM (and 26th via FTP). As in our previous releases, 4.5 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: Initial ports to the xscale-based gumstix platform and the ARM-based OpenMoko; improved hardware support and several new or improved drivers for sensors; new tools - ypldap, an YP server using LDAP as a backend; malloc has gained new attack mitigation measures; install now allows multiple interfaces to be configured with DHCP; OpenSSH 5.2; over 5,500 ports, minor robustness improvements in package tools; major components - Xenocara (based on X.Org 7.4), GCC 2.95.3 and 3.3.5, Perl 5.10.0; our improved and secured version of Apache 1.3, with SSL/TLS...." Read the rest of the release announcement for a detailed list of all changes and improvements. Download: i386/install45.iso (229MB, MD5), amd64/install45.iso (251MB, MD5, torrent).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.4, a BSD operating system with a strict security philosophy and advanced security features: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.4. This is our 24th release on CD-ROM (and 25th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 4.4 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: new or extended platforms for sparc64, socppc, landisk; improved hardware support; new tools and functionality; assorted improvements and code cleanup; install and upgrade process changes; OpenSSH 5.1; over 4,500 ports, minor robustness improvements in package tools (Firefox 3, GNOME 2.20.3, Inkscape 0.46, KDE 3.5.8, OpenOffice.org 2.4.1, Xfce 4.4.2...." Read the release announcement and release information for a detailed list of changes and improvements. Download: i386/install44.iso (216MB, MD5), amd64/install44.iso (236MB, MD5).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.3: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.3. This is our 23rd release on CD-ROM (and 24th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 4.3 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. Highlights include: GNOME 2.20.3, GNUstep 1.14.2, KDE 3.5.8, Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.12, Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.12, MySQL 5.0.51a, OpenMotif 2.3.0, OpenOffice.org 2.3.1, PostgreSQL 8.2.6, Xfce 4.4.2." Read the release announcement and release notes for a detailed list of changes and new features. Installation ISO images for a variety of architectures are available for download from these OpenBSD mirrors and also via BitTorrent; quick links to the i386 and amd64 installation images: i386/install43.iso (203MB, MD5), amd64/install43.iso (222MB, MD5).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.2: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.2. This is our 22nd release on CD-ROM (and 23rd via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 4.2 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. New and extended platforms: PCIe UltraSPARC IIIi machines like the V215 and V245; AlphaServer 1200 and 4100. Install and upgrade process changes: new install method - for the most popular architectures, the FTP sites have a 200MB install ISO file, which contains the base set, permitting non-network installs; allow the specification of an NTP server during installation. Improved hardware support, including native Serial ATA support...." Read the detailed release announcement and visit the OpenBSD 4.2 page for a full list of new features. Download the installation CD from these FTP/HTTP servers or use the project's torrent tracker: i386/install42.iso (204MB, MD5); amd64/install42.iso (223MB, MD5).

OpenBSD 4.1 has been released: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.1. This is our 21st release on CD-ROM (and 22nd via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of ten years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 4.1 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system." OpenBSD 4.1 is available for two new platforms (landisk and sparc64), provides hardware support for many new devices, including many Ethernet and wireless network cards, and includes a range of new tools and various functionality improvements. Please read the full release announcement and product page for a complete list of new features. As always, OpenBSD 4.1 is provided for download in the form of small CD images for network installation; here are two quick links to the i386 and amd64 files: i386/cd41.iso (4.88MB, MD5), amd64/cd41.iso (5.10MB, MD5). Official CD sets can be obtained from the OpenBSD store (US$50.00).

Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 4.0: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.0. This is our 20th release on CD-ROM (and 21st via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of ten years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 4.0 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. New/extended platforms: armish - various ARM-based appliances, using the Redboot boot loader, currently only supporting the Thecus N2100 and IOData HDL-G; sparc64 - UltraSPARC III based machines are now supported; zaurus - support for the Zaurus SL-C3200." Improved hardware support, many new tools, new functionality features, and assorted improvements are all part of OpenBSD 4.0; find more details in the release announcement. As usual, the official OpenBSD 4.0 CD set is only available from the project's online store (US$50.00), but small CD images designed for network installation can be downloaded for free. Quick links to the i386 and AMD64 CD images: i386/cd40.iso (4.88MB, MD5), amd64/cd40.iso (5.05MB, MD5).

OpenBSD 3.9 has been released: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.9. This is our 19th release on CD-ROM (and 18th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of eight years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 3.9 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. Improved hardware support, including: some G5-based Apple Macintosh machines, including WX support; many more audio drivers in the macppc port; support for many system sensors...." Read the full release announcement and visit the OpenBSD 3.9 page to learn more. As usual, all OpenBSD releases are available either as small bootable images for network installation or as official CD sets from the project's online store (US$45). Here is a quick link to the i386 installation CD: cd39.iso (4.62MB, MD5).

OpenBSD 3.8 has been released: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.8. This is our 18th release on CD-ROM (and 19th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of eight years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 3.8 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: Improved hardware support, including new aps driver for the built-in accelerometer found in some IBM ThinkPad laptops, new art driver for Accom Networks Artery T1 and E1 cards...." A detailed account of all changes can be read in the release announcement and on the product's features page. OpenBSD 3.8 is available as a network installation CD image for a number of architectures; here is a quick link to the i386 image: cd38.iso (4.55MB). As always, the official CD set can be ordered through the project's online store (US$45.00).

Only ten days to go before the new OpenBSD 3.8 is formally released (although the officially CD set is reportedly shipping already). As a preview, ONLamp has published a long, highly technical interview with several OpenBSD developers about the new features in version 3.8: "It's release time again for OpenBSD! The upcoming 3.8 will include some wonderful features for network gurus (trunking, tracking wireless roaming users, interface groups, a new ipsec configuration tool, and failover of ipsec links), a great rework of malloc() that will provide further security protections by default, and the first version of bioctl - a universal RAID management interface." Read the rest of the interview here. The official CD set of OpenBSD 3.8 is available for order on this page (US$45.00).

O'Reilly's ONLamp has published an interesting interview with the core developer team of OpenBSD, discussing new features in version 3.7: "Today the OpenBSD project announced the new 3.7 release. This is the first release to support newer wireless chipsets, especially for 802.11g, thanks to a big activism campaign lead by project leader Theo de Raadt. It's now possible to create a portable access point with a tiny PDA using the Zaurus port, too. As usual, there are a lot of other big and small changes, such as the import of X.Org, the jump towards GCC 3, and a feature to update your installed packages automagically. Discover the details behind the scenes in this interview that Federico Biancuzzi had with several OpenBSD developers." The complete interview is available here.

OpenBSD 3.7 has been released: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.7. This is our 17th release on CD-ROM (and 18th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of eight years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 3.7 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. New platforms: OpenBSD/zaurus - expanding the arm porting effort by supporting the Sharp Zaurus SL-C3000, bringing a secure ssh-capable machine to your pocket; OpenBSD/sgi - starting out support with the SGI O2 machines." Full details can be found in the release announcement, OpenBSD 3.7 page, and changelog. Network installation ISO images for various architectures can be downloaded from one of the project's download mirrors; a quick link to the i386 image: cd37.iso (4.5MB, MD5). The full 3-CD OpenBSD set can also be purchased on the orders page (US$45).

NewsForge has published a review of the recently released OpenBSD 3.6: "What strikes me most about OpenBSD in general is the professional manner in which it is developed and released. By professional I don't mean 'corporate', as in meaningless meetings, bad design strategies, incompetent bosses, unreasonable deadlines, etc. I mean it's released on time with few problems and it does exactly what it claims to do. Each release is a small step forward; operating system development should be a battle of inches instead of historically disastrous attempts at giant leaps, and OpenBSD 3.6 personifies that philosophy. With the exception of SMP support, every enhancement new to 3.6 is a few inches forward." Read the rest of the review here.

OpenBSD 3.6 has been released: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.6. This is our 16th release on CD-ROM (and 17th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of eight years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 3.6 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. New platform: OpenBSD/luna88k; expanding the mvme88k porting effort by supporting Omron's line of 88100-based workstations. SMP support on OpenBSD/i386 and OpenBSD/amd64 platforms. New functionality: a cleaned up DHCP server and client implementation, now featuring privilege separation and safe defaults...." The announcement, release notes. Download the installation ISO from one of the OpenBSD mirrors or order the full CD set from the project's online store (US$45).

NewsForge has published a review of OpenBSD 3.5: "The OpenBSD Project released OpenBSD 3.5 exactly on schedule on May 1, adding support for new functions and devices in the kernel and updating the base system. While it may not be the most versatile operating system in the world, OpenBSD shines when it comes to security, providing a default installation that doesn't have to be locked down and partially disabled before using it." Read the full review here. Ours is here.

Not a week goes by without a new computer security bulletin being issued. The problem is particularly acute on servers, and diligent system administrators face an endless (and often thankless) task watching for security alerts and downloading the relevant patches as soon as these become available. Not surprisingly, a lot of sysadmins would kill for an operating system in which the code was carefully audited in advance so that vulnerabilities were squashed before they could be exploited. In the following article, we explore OpenBSD, an operating system built from the ground up with security in mind. Though not suitable for every taste, OpenBSD will no doubt save many system administrators gray hairs. Even for those not running a server, this is a very stable and powerful OS and you don't necessarily need to be paranoid (though it helps) to enjoy using it.

OpenBSD 3.5 has been released: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.5. This is our 15th release on CD-ROM (and 16th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of eight years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 3.5 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system." Read the full announcement or the release notes for a comprehensive list of improvements. As always, the full set of OpenBSD ISO images is only available from the project's online store (US$40), but the full release can be installed via FTP from one of the OpenBSD mirrors. This is the boot ISO image for the i386 architecture: cd35.iso (2.9MB). OpenBSD is multi-platform 4.4BSD-based UNIX-like operating system with emphasis on security and integrated cryptography.

OSNews has published a technical review of OpenBSD 3.4 on SPARC64: "All of the operating systems under evaluation (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and coming soon Linux and Solaris) have one or more options available to make the system an effective and secure firewall. FreeBSD, NetBSD, and of course OpenBSD have the ability to run OpenBSD's pf (packet filter). They, along with Solaris, also have the ability to run IPFilter, which is what powered OpenBSD's firewall capabilities until a very public and very nasty spat between Darren Reed (author of IP Filter) and Theo De Raadt (infamous head of the OpenBSD) over licensing issues led to OpenBSD creating its own packet filter." The complete review.